At the Beginning
by da-angel729
Summary: Jack and George, at the beginning. Set before the closing scene in "The Enemy Within".


**Author's Note:** Written for the 2011 Event at **sg1friendathon** at LiveJournal with the following prompt: _78. Jack, George Hammond. It's only the beginning of the adventure._ Spoilers for _Children of the Gods_, _The Enemy Within_, and _1969_. As always, feedback and con crit appreciated!

**At the Beginning**

The SGC is quiet, finally, and in the control room George breathes a sigh so loud the technician sitting at the computer looks sideways at him. He smiles at the man, tries for reassuring, but he's not sure he manages. It's been hell the last few days, and he hopes it's going to get better but knows—through long experience—that it will probably just get worse. The technician is still staring but doesn't say anything.

George is pretty sure the tech's never been this close to a general before.

"You okay, sir?"

It's not technician who asks—George is pretty sure they're running scared of someone still in the control area and that it's not him—despite the stars, people don't really view him as threatening, which has actually worked in his favor more than once—and turns to find Colonel O'Neill sprawled in a chair, staring at the now-silent gate. George doesn't know what he's thinking, but he can guess.

Charlie Kawalsky had been a close friend of the Colonel's, he knows, and he'd liked the man immediately, too. There'd been something about him, an openness and genuine friendliness and sincerity that most Spec Ops soldiers had lost long before they were out of the program.

Like Colonel O'Neill.

"Just thinking, Colonel," he says, suddenly aware of Jack's eyebrow raised inquiringly at him, waiting for an answer.

Jack grins, a quick flash of teeth, before his face settles into what George is realizing is his normal expression. "Didn't know Generals thought. Sir."

He thinks about saying something, something about respect and subordinates—the gate tech is watching them both avidly and the others in the Control Room are pretending they don't exist—but merely nods. "Sometimes, Colonel. Shall we go to my office?"

It's not an order—George does want to talk to him, but it's not urgent—and he thinks Colonel O'Neill knows that because he nods and stands up, stretching and rolling his head from side to side in what George knows is a way to crack his neck.

"See you tomorrow, Sergeant Galling," he says, slapping a hand on the shoulder of the gate tech who'd been watching them.

"Yes, sir," the sergeant says, sitting a little straighter in his chair as George precedes Colonel O'Neill out of the room.

So, George thinks with amusement, the gate tech—just arrived to the SGC a week ago and on night shift—would probably do his job better because Colonel O'Neill knew who he was. George stifled a smile and walks to his office, gesturing to the chair in front of the desk.

Colonel O'Neill sits in the chair, slouches really, and George—who's always prided himself on being an excellent judge of character—doesn't fight him on it, and merely raises an eyebrow as he sits in his own chair. There are some battles to pick, and how Colonel O'Neill sits isn't one of them.

"Colonel. How are you?" The question's out before George realizes it, and the Colonel's easy smile is gone.

"Fine, sir," he says, and it's the same tone of voice he was using on Colonel Kennedy earlier, during the argument about Teal'c.

"I'm sorry for prying," George says, and notices the Colonel relaxes slightly, though if he hadn't been paying such close attention he probably wouldn't have noticed.

"It's just been a long day," Colonel O'Neill says, and George nods. He knows it's an evasion but he's always tried to respect his subordinates' privacy when it didn't directly impact the mission.

It seems that's all they've had since Apophis had come through the Stargate was long days, and George didn't think that would change anytime soon. There'd never been a command like this before, and he knows that they're going to figure it out as they go along, making mistakes along the way.

It's the mistakes they've made already that have been keeping him up at night, the surveillance video footage of Apophis coming in and taking his people on constant replay through his mind. The panic, the frustration and worry of the first few days, seeing refugees and an _enemy soldier _coming through the gate with his own people.

"How are you doing, General?" Colonel O'Neill asks, and George can't tell what he's thinking but feels the question is genuine.

"I'm fine, Colonel," George says, and is startled by the laugh from the other man. It's unpleasant and abrupt and it makes him uneasy.

"Neither of us ever expected something like this," the Colonel says, waving his hand in the air. "Neither of us are fine, sir."

His voice sounds bitter, and George—who knows a thing or two about responsibility and things one can't control, needs to get this over with.

"Jack. Can I call you Jack?" George asks, and merely sighs when Colonel O'Neill nods. "Jack. You know this wasn't your fault."

He watches the Colonel—Jack—press his lips together and his hands grip the side of his chair more tightly. "I know, sir." Jack sighs and rubs his hands over his face. "I'm just tired. Need to go home."

George wants to ask why he hasn't, why he's still hanging around the SGC if he doesn't want to be there, when there's a knock on the office door.

"Come in," George says, and one of the guards assigned to Teal'c walks in.

"Sirs." He nods at both of them. "The Jaffa would like to speak with Colonel O'Neill."

"Teal'c," George corrects him, and hides his small smile at the Colonel's—Jack's surprise. "His name's Teal'c, and he's going to be on SG-1."

The smile the Colonel—Jack—gives him is worth the fights he had to put up with, the favors he'd had to call in. But he remembers the four people he'd met as a Lieutenant—and helped escape—and he knows he has no other choice.

"Yes, sir," the guard says, and Jack stands up.

"If there's nothing else, General, I'll see what Teal'c wants," Jack says.

George nods. "It's nothing important. I just want to get the off-world briefing complete for the new arrivals on Monday. But we can do it tomorrow."

"Yes, sir," Jack says, giving him a sloppy salute and turning toward the door.

Though George's been impressed with what he's seen of Jack so far, he knows it'll be difficult. They'll butt heads, he's sure—he's already realized they're both stubborn and hardheaded, and that's either going to work fantastically or crash and burn.

He worries about his people—and he's a little surprised he's already thinking of them that way—and, based on that two-sentence conversation he'd had with Colonel O'Neill, they've got a similar sense of responsibility.

The phone rings, and he picks it up. Listens to the guard at Teal'c's room say Colonel O'Neill appears to be settled into the room and doesn't seem to be leaving, and breathes a sigh of relief before packing up his briefcase and making his way to the surface, breathes in the night air and feels the worry settle from overwhelming to manageable.

They're going to be fine.


End file.
